MUMBAI: Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd, the company that owns The Times of India Group, is mulling a 10 per cent stake in K Sera Sera Productions Ltd, a film production company.
K Sera Sera will be issuing convertible warrants to BCCL. "BCCL has in-principle agreed to subscribe to the warrants of the company, amounting to up to 10 per cent equity. The investment could be to the tune of Rs 100 million," K Sera Sera managing director Sanjay Lai tells Indiantelevision.com.
K Sera Sera board will meet on 7 September to consider and approve the proposal. The BCCL investment could substantially shore up investor interest in K Sera Sera as the movie company is working on a revival plan.
Indiantelevision.com was the first to report that K Sera Sera had plans to raise Rs 1 billion through a global depositary receipt (GDR) offering. The company has lined up a slate of 10 movies and will be investing Rs 1 billion towards this.
In an earlier GDR, the original promoters of K Sera Sera had exited. The GDR holders have 57.90 per cent stake in the company, while 41.32 per cent is with the public.
K Sera Sera has announced plans to bid for an IPL (Indian Premier League) team. "We are studying the process of bidding and are interested to own an IPL team. Funding is not a constraint," says Lai.
IPL chairman Lalit Modi had stated that an IPL team would cost between $250-300 million. It remains to be seen how K Sera Sera can find the resources to get into the big league of cricket.
